A Great Escape

Gooderson Leisure Corporation was established in 1957, when Mr. R.H. Gooderson acquired the first of his hotels in Durban, the Lonsdale Hotel,one block from the beachfront. Through the acquisition of a number of hotels, the company grew from one hotel to thirteen hotels in 1970. The company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1968 as Gooderson Hotels Limited (Goodtel).When Alan Gooderson purchased the business from his family in 1979, he pursued a new strategy which included delisting the company from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the sale of non-profitable hotels and entering into the timeshare industry.

The company entered into a partnership in the timeshare industry in 1981, which allowed it’s management team to gain extensive knowledge of timeshare development, sales and management. The success that the company achieved with the development, sales and management of timeshare properties resulted in the establishment of Goodfin, which offers finance to prospective timeshare owners. Gooderson Vacation Sales (Pty) Ltd was formed in January 1996 to handle the in-house marketing, sales and letting of all the self-catering and timeshare properties. The ownership and management of these units, along with the three hotels under management provided the company with the infrastructure to not only survive the changing demographics but to accommodate for tourists demand for a variety of holiday destinations.

In March 2006, the shareholders of Gooderson proposed a listing of Gooderson on theAlternative Exchange (AltX) of the JSE Limited. The company converted to a public company on the 26 September 2006,Gooderson listed on AltX.

Leisure Destinations
Gooderson Leisure Corporation owns and manages a variety of Leisure destinations within KwaZulu-Natal, offering guests the experience of the coast, majestic mountains, game viewing, Zulu culture or historic battlefields.
Properties include: TheTropicana Hotel and Beach Hotel located on the Marine Parade Durban, Drakensberg Gardens Golf and Spa Resort based in the Southern Drakensberg, Dumazulu Lodge & Traditional Village as well as Bushlands Game Lodge based in Hluhluwe, Zululand and Natal Spa Hot Springs & Leisure Resort located on the Battlefields Route between Vryheid and Paulpietersberg.

Employee and Industrial Relations
To ensure optimal execution of the Group Strategy,Gooderson is structured and managed in an environment with the necessary financial and administrative capacity, driven by a fully motivated workforce that fits an adaptive culture. Between the six properties and head-office, Gooderson Leisure facilitates in creating and sustaining job creation for people residing within the province and thus assists with employment. Gooderson recognises and has relationships with South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) which is representative of some of its employees. Health and Safety training is ongoing and is encouraged for all members of staff. The Group also complies with all issues as stated in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Internal procedures are being developed to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation. Gooderson policy states that its environment is non-discriminatory towards and supportive of employees living with HIV/ AIDS with easy and confidential access to counselling for all employees.

Sustainability
The company is also involved in various community projects offering opportunities for education as well as self-sustainability.

Bergview Primary School Community Project
The Bergview Primary School is based less than one kilometre from the Drakensberg Gardens resort. The school is a community initiative to give the 48 children access to education and offer and equal opportunity for a positive future.

Project Build
Gooderson Leisure has pledged R98,000.00 to “Project Build”, formally the Natal School ProjectTrust. The project was established in 1985 with the objective of building good quality school facilities that are attractive yet cost effective. The aim of the trust is to improve the pupil classroom ratio and create better working conditions for teaching staff, which in turn improves the quality of life in the school community.

Kuhle Craft Project
Gooderson Leisure became involved with the Kuhle Craft project in 2007.KwaSani municipality has received funding from the European Union Gijima Local Economic Development to boost the quality and marketing of crafts in the area. There are around 200 active crafters around Underberg and Himeville and each craft group has selected 2 representatives for specialised training. Drakensberg Gardens Hotel is a partner in the project and provides training facilities and marketing support.Helen Gooderson plays a key role by assisting with training and helping to identify funders and markets.

The biggest obstacle for rural crafters is that they are far from their markets and lack know how of what customers want. Most of the products we saw at the show and tell day were unsuitable for sale and the aimin providing training is to combine traditional crafting with contemporary ideas that will be attractive to buyers.

The Future
As the company has several hotel accommodation contracts that are government related, the main shareholders intend to sell an initial 15% of the total issued share capital to a black empowered company. Negotiations with prospective BEE partners will then continue until the company meets the tourism charter expectations of a 25.1% black ownership shareholding by the year 2014.

Currently the group is in the process of a huge upgrade programme at the various properties, which will enhance the group and lift the properties. The refurbishment is scheduled to be complete prior to the 2010 world cup.

The hotel and leisure industry has shown immense growth these last few years and the company expects revenue to continue to increase. This upswing should continue, particularly with the impendingWorld Cup soccer in 2010. The SouthAfrican Tourism marketing campaign that is currently taking place can only intensify international awareness that South Africa is the perfect destination for tourists who require a diversified and unique holiday experience.

Vision
With the implementation to increase our product offering, there is also emphasis to optimise and deliver on employment equity, skills development, Black Economic Empowerment in line with good corporate governance practices which all forms part of the Gooderson strategy.

Mission
It is our mission to add value and customer satisfaction through a consistent approach to service and operational excellence and to increase market share and product offering in the tourism industry.